My text is very well known. The last half of verse 19 we read, when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against them. When C. H. Spurgeon preached from this chapter, One Lord's Day Morning in 1866, he made the comment in the introduction to his message that nothing would induce him, and I quote, to attempt to interpret the prophecies, unquote, of this chapter. As I began to read various commentators in Isaiah 59, I began to understand why he said that. It's not that there is much confusion about the general meaning of the passage, but there is no shortage of diversity of interpretations regarding to whom this passage was written, and what time period it covered. Some say that Isaiah intended these words for the Jews of his own day. Others believe that he was addressing the Jews who were in captivity in Babylon. Still others believe that this chapter was written to the Jews who had returned to their land after that captivity. And then some believe that this passage was speaking of a period in the church when it would be brought to its very lowest ebb, and then Christ would return and establish His kingdom in all of its glory. But to derive the benefit and the instruction this passage was intended to give to God's people in any age, we need not trouble ourselves with the who and the when. Suffice it to say that there is a general truth in this text that is very clear, and that is this. When the enemy shall attack the people of God with its greatest force, at such times, God's Holy Spirit will counter that attack with His own sovereign power and put the enemy to flight. That much is clear at least. Here is a verse that gives much comfort and instruction to God's people in any day. But before considering this well-known text, let's step back for a moment or two, please, this morning and look at its surrounding context, which actually takes us back to chapter 58. Israel was complaining to God that she wasn't enjoying all the great blessings that He had promised to give them. even though they were doing their duty as professing believers. They went to church, if I can call it that. They went to church and they even went to the prayer meeting. Verse 2, Yet they seek Me daily and delight to know My ways, forsook not the ordinance of their God. They seem to take great pleasure in the exercises of religion. They take delight He said. And even in the eyes of others, they appeared righteous, because the text says they are as a nation that did righteousness. Yet for all of this, God was not answering their prayers and He was not regarding their sacrifices. And they felt that God had passed them over. They felt that all of their efforts in seeking God had been in vain. Wherefore, verse 3, wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? But God tells Isaiah to sound the trumpet to these people and show them their transgressions, particularly their sin of hypocrisy. You see, they looked good on the outside, but as chapter 58 reveals, everything was rotten on the inside. They paid a lip service to God. And in their day-to-day living, however, it was anything reflective but a desire to walk with the Lord. And so Isaiah says, in essence, in verse 1 of chapter 59, the problem is not with God. There's no lack of power with Him. He's not a God who's not willing to hear or to answer their prayers. The Lord's hand is not shortened, that is, cannot save, nor is I, neither is your heavy that it cannot hear the problem, the reason for their troubles, that unanswered prayer was their sin." Things were bad in Israel. Their hands were defiled with blood, their fingers with iniquity, they were habitual liars, and none called for justice. Their feet ran to evil, etc., etc. And God saw that Even in spite of how bad things were in that nation, there was no man who would rise up to set things right. There was no Reformer. There wasn't a man who was actually going to stand in the gap. And Jehovah marvels. That's fascinating to me. He marvels that there's no intercessor. No man to intervene. The enemy had come in like a flood. There was an attack from without and from within upon the people of God. And the cause of God seemed to be hopeless. There seemed to be no way of going forward, no way of getting out of this mess. And it's right here at this point that God says, I'll stretch out my own arm. And I'll deliver. And I'll be the one that will stand in the gap. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord So I'll lift up a standard from this text I want to consider with you for a few moments this morning, the subject of the Holy War. The Holy War. I have very two simple points. My first point deals with the attack of hell. The attack of hell. The first thing I note from our text is the sureness of the attack, because the first word of our text says, when the enemy shall come in like a flood. Not if, but when. You will find echoes of this in verse 17 of Ephesians chapter 6, where Paul exhorts us to put on the whole armor of God that we might be able to stand in the evil day. A day that's unique for the enemy to come against the people of God and to drown them, so to speak. While it's true that Satan is always engaged in war against the people of God, there comes days in our lives, there comes time in the home, there comes those times in the life of a congregation and in the church when he, without fail, will come in like a flood. I have no doubt in my heart and mind at all that your minister feels right now that the enemy has come in like a flood. You can rest assured that there will be seasons in your life that Satan will come in like that. He will wait until you are at your weakest moment and then come at you with all of his skill, with all of his wrath, with all of His power, with all of His subtlety. It matters not how big or how small the congregation. It doesn't matter how long you faithfully serve the Lord. It doesn't matter how much you know of Scripture. It doesn't matter how many hours you've spent in prayer. One thing is certain, the devil will come in like a flood. Paul said that he wasn't ignorant of the devil's devices, and here is one thing about which we must not be ignorant. Sometimes you know, do you not, that you find everything in life seems to be falling apart. There's trouble at home. There's trouble with the kids. There's trouble at the job. There's trouble at the church. and fear and worry and depression fills your soul. And oftentimes you find yourself, as Bunyan put it, in that doubting castle. And like Christian, you imagine that you would be better off dead. And I would dare to say that when the enemy has come in like a flood, beloved, into your life or into your home or into your church, you've actually said to God, Lord, I'd rather be dead than going through this right now. I know because I've said it. And I've been there. That juniper tree experience. Lord, take me. You are tempted to say at times like this with old Jacob, all these things are against me. The devil is against me. Friends are against me. Family's against me. And it seems to me that even God Himself is against me. And right here, temptation from the devil comes in like a flood. And it's right here that you must realize and remember that there is an adversary who comes in like that. And you are not alone in this. You might feel that you're all alone and the devil wants to isolate you and make you think that there's no one else going through what you're going through. But there's no other church that's experiencing what your church is experiencing. There's no other family going through the troubles that your family is going through. That's what He wants to make you think. He has to come in like a flood. The child of God knows for certain that He will come just like that. Now, I notice the strength of the attack from the text. The words, come in like a flood, are very full of teaching. They paint a picture of the awful strength of the enemy when he does and attacks the people of God in such a fashion. Just imagine if you would for a moment, this raging torrent coming down the side of a mountain, just sweeping down everything in its path, unstoppable. And thus God describes the power of hell in its attack. Well, did Martin Luther say of the devil, his craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate on earth. is not as equal. We're left with the impression that when hell comes into the home, into the church, into the life like a flood, those in its path feel completely and helplessly overwhelmed. Note the words carefully, please. It comes in. He's not held at bay. He's not checked. He's not just outside the gates. He actually comes in like a flood. He comes into the pews. My, oh my! He comes into the pews. He comes amongst the people of God. The saints of the Lord. He comes into the pulpits. He comes into the prayer closet. There seems to be no area that's sacrosanct that he won't trudge into with his filthy paw. Every effort made at checking his advances at all seems to be in vain. The rapid progress of his attack upon the cause of Christ disheartens the stoutest of believers. I'm then brought to look at the strategy of his attack from this text, the strategy of it. Here's where I want to spend a little bit of time with you this morning. This attack on hell is likened to a flood. And to me, that whole idea of a flood reveals the devil's strategy. He wants to seek to destroy the people of God by drowning the very cause of Christ. Destroy these people by drowning the cause of Christ. Just what does he seek to drown? when He comes in like a flood. I will say first, He seeks to drown the vision of the church. The vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish. Now, although I realize, strictly speaking, that text is referring to the supernatural visions that God gave to His prophets, yet it still speaks of a time when great harm comes to the church because they don't have a clear sight of the purpose and the plan of God. Satan comes like a flood and attempts to drown the vision of the church. The vision of God's greatness, I would say, he seeks to drown. They thought that the Lord's hand was shortened. They didn't have the power to save. And I will tell you that we are living in a day when the church has long lost sight of the vision of the greatness of God. It seems that there are so many ministries that want to put God on the level of man and want to put him into a nice little theological cubbyhole. Bring God, this God, down onto man's level. Is it any wonder that you feel completely overwhelmed by your trials and your troubles when you haven't got a sight of God, that He is the God alone, the great and glorious Creator? He Himself, it seems, goes out of His way in the Scriptures to make us to see that, that He sits upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. That none can stay His hand or say unto Him what do is how. No one comes to God and says, no, don't do that. He says, I am God, beside Me there is no now. Now, one thing that the devil wants you to have is that vision drowned of the greatness of this Lord. Sovereign, who does all things according to His pleasure. The One whom none can rebuke. The One whom none can stop. Boy, I tell you, my friends, the devil's done a tremendous number on the people of God in this day and age. Now, you're overcome by your troubles and you're overcome by your fears and you're overcome by your worries. You've lost sight of that high and lofty one. Coupled with that, the devil has come along and he seeks to drown the vision of our own nothingness. Oh, this is the day of personalities. In the church now, this is the day of man's elegance and his pride. I mean, we've got it down pat. We've got our theology down pat. We've got the programs down pat. We've got all the system down pat. An old stinking thing called pride that one preacher said is the last thing that dies in the life is alive and well in the church. You want to know why you get miffed at sister so-and-so and brother so-and-so when they said or did something? It's pride. You haven't seen your own nothingness. I find it in the Blessed Christ. Satan knows divide and conquer. I find in the church of Jesus Christ, believers falling out about the most petty things. Stupid! You'd almost think you've got a little kindergarten at times in the church. Why? Because it's a matter of self-importance. Oh, don't talk to me like that. Husbands and wives, I tell you, when there's discord in the marriage, there's someone who says, I'm not getting my way and my way should be gotten. Tell me it ain't so. have us in our nothingness. The devil would have us very puffed up with ourselves, how important we are. I would also say he seeks to drown the vision of sin. That's what happened in Israel. That's why God told Isaiah to sound the trumpet and show my people their transgressions. Those folks thought they were getting along pretty good. They were wrong. The vision of sin is being ground in the Church of Jesus Christ. Today, Satan wants to erase the very category of sin. Redefine sin. Now, what was sin perhaps 25 years ago is accepted. A little leaven, the Word of God says, leaven up the whole lump. The church of Jesus Christ is supposed to be salt, and it's that saltiness that stays back the corruption in the world. Yet, I do find, do you not, that we're living in a very dark day considering this world. Very, very corrupt. We're living in a very corrupt land. Now sometimes, I don't know, maybe you'll want to debate me after I say this, In many ways, Greenville is a unique environment. You've got probably more churches in Greenville than you would have in all of Central Florida. You've got the influence of the university. I was riding along here this morning and I was noticing how many shops were closed. Well, that wouldn't be so in Orlando. They're all going full tilt this morning. But don't you think for a moment, beloved, that the corruption is not in your very city. Corruption filling the nation. Now ask the question, why is that? Well, can I not say that because the church has lost the softness? There is a very large element in the church that seems to think that the answer to America's problems is getting conservative Republicans elected, getting a conservative Republican president in. Now, I'm going to say something. This nation could get a saved conservative Republican president in office, and if it a Congress that was conservative Republicans controlled completely. It's not going to deal with the sin that's facing the church. That is not the problem. And I would to God that the many a Christian who spend their time and efforts upon getting their cannabates into office would spend the same time upon their knees before God pleading for Him to divide the church. Because there's the problem. I was in Northern Ireland back last summer, going from church to church, and I found that believers talking so much about, you know, the IRA and Sinn Féin and the British government and Tony Blair and so and so and so and so. These are God's own people. And I saw it over and over again. They say, well, if we can get these things right, our land's going to be right. It's a load of nonsense. The problem is sin in the church. The problem is the enemy has come in like a flood. The problem is that there are so many of God's people taken up with this world and advancing on in life, getting a nice retirement. Now, I'm not against retirement accounts, but believe it or not, it becomes your golden life. We've somehow lost sight and the devil has done a work. He has come in like a flood. I think there's something else he's done in drowning. That's the vision of sinners perishing. It seems that we'll do almost anything than go and speak to someone about their lost condition. And we've got all of our excuses, you know. You know, we're Calvinists. God will save us of that. I don't want anything to do with a Calvinism that doesn't know a broken heart for sinners. I don't want anything to do with a Calvinism that won't go across the street to speak to a lost neighbor about Jesus Christ. I don't want anything to do with it. I don't care how orthodox it is. I find the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 9, who sets forth very clear Calvinistic doctrine, says he could wish it were possible himself accursed for his brother and his kinsmen according to the flesh. We've got time for everything, don't we? But telling the lost about the Savior. Does it matter if they'll hear or not? That's God's business to open the ears, to open the minds, to open the hearts. It's ours to sow the seed. But I believe that that vision, Satan is coming and grounding it. And I think the vision that he's done the greatest number on in the church of Jesus Christ is the vision of Christ crucified. the vision of Calvary, the vision of the cross, the vision of the very one who became poor that we might become rich. These are the very things that beat at the heart of the Christian's life and you take these things away and nothing but deadness and decadence falls in its wake. I believe as well he seeks to drown in the strategy of his attack, the voice in and the voice of the church. The voice of God's Word he seeks to drown. He brings in a flood tide of error, heresy, confusion of translations, and we are living in a day when Christians just don't know their Bibles. I was in a place this summer and someone wanted to argue with me about The doctrines of grace, I wasn't about to argue with them, but I thought it was amazing, this person, that they know the books of the Bible. And they're now ready to debate the doctrines of grace. It's laughable! We're living in a day when Christians have been saved for so many years, and they don't know the books of the Bible! Something that you learn in the little child! Tremendous ignorance of the Satan has flooded the home, however, you know, flooded, there's our thought again, has flooded the home with magazines, television, various forms of entertainment to drown out the voice of Scripture. He's done a wonderful job of completely destroying the family altar, which in the Church of Jesus Christ, historically, has been the keystone of the work of God. I was speaking recently with a brother about this very issue. You know, this church is made up of families. And there is no magic transformation that takes place when you walk in those double doors. What you are at home is what's brought into the church. You can begin to realize the importance of having a home that's centered upon the Lord, the things of God. You can't understand, begin to imagine the importance of having that family altar. Not just tucking little Johnny in with a little prayer at night time. Reading a little book. But sitting your family down day in and day out and day in and day out with the Word of God, reading it, searching their minds until they understand it, doing it all throughout their life, and let come hell or high water, you don't let anything get in the way of that. Oh, but preacher, we're living in a... I don't care what century we're living in. The father of John Patton worked 80 hours a week, 80 hours a week. And as one thing his nine or eight children said that lived in a three-room home, one thing his children said, there was never a time when he did… nothing got in the way of having the family altar. Nothing. Well, you're not being understanding, Preacher. That may or may not be. But I'll tell you one thing, I look at the homes in the Church of Jesus Christ, I say there's just something that's sadly missing. It's time for TV, time for sports, time for fun and games. It's time for work. Satan has come in and drowned the Lord. He doesn't want your kids to hear, to know this Book. Now, I want to talk to you dads for a moment, because you're the head of your home. You must, before God, covenant with Him that you will have this time with your family. You change whatever you have to change. And if you're really dead and earnest about wanting to see the church go on with God. We are in a dark day. Our brother Barrett was mentioning this on Wednesday evening. We're in a dark day. Believers don't know the gospel. Christians ignorant of the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ's blood. I mean, we're talking about the heart now, the very heart of the Gospel itself, and Christians by and large across this nation haven't a clue. There's even less knowledge about God's method of sanctification. I'm saved by grace, but I'm sanctified by work. And I wonder why there are so many Christian psychologists and psychiatrists abounding in our land. I tell you one thing, if you think you're going to earn your holiness before God and earn your sanctification, it will drive you round the bend, because you're living under guilt the whole time. The cross of Jesus Christ has become something you hang around your neck. You wear in your ears on the back of a t-shirt. Satan has come in like a flood to stifle God's Word and to cast doubt upon it. I would say that the byword of this generation is half God said. Does God really mean this? Then there's the drowning of the voice of preaching. It's through the foolishness of preaching that God saves the lost, but Satan has come in like a flood and he has decimated many a pulpit. Preachers who don't know how to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and haven't a clue about preaching the cross. In some of the best churches in Orlando, fundamental, Bible-believing, separated, 20-minute sermonette about some principles of Christian living. And they hear it Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. The sacred desk has become a place where men think they have to entertain the people instead of evangelizing sinners and edifying the saints. They're too busy to study. The preachers are too busy to pray, and their pulpits are barren. They're too busy socializing. Christians would rather go to seminars and lectures and conferences than to hear plain-pointed preaching. Don't bore me with doctrine. Just check out and go to sleep. I've seen it happen. There's no interest in the pulpit. Someone said that whenever they're having problems sleeping in nighttime, All they do is call the minister in. Have them talk to them. Puts them right to sleep. You look at any dark period in the church, you want and you'll find there has always been a lack of spirit-filled preaching. Always. Why? Because it's through the preaching of Christ crucified that the cause of Christ advances. It's through preaching that Satan's kingdom is diminished. It's through preaching that the church gains her knowledge. And through that knowledge, her strength to do exploits for God. Then he seeks to drown in the strategy of the voice of prayer. I want you to see that the thing in which God wondered was that there was no intercessor. He saw that there was no man, verse 16, and wondered that there was no intercessor. He marveled. There was no one interceding for the situation. Satan has come in like a flood and drowned the voice of prayer. You see, in a battlefield, there is always a strategic point which must be held at any cost. And in this holy war, the place of prayer is that point. Why are we so often defeated? Because we pray so little. Why are so few people being saved? Because we pray so little. I will not write it off to the day and age. This is the day of the gospel. The gospel is still the power of God and the salvation. And I am not going to offer a lame excuse of the hardness of the times. Why is church work, which ought to be the most thrilling work you'll ever engage in, why is it so disheartening? Because we pray so little. Jeremiah's God is still our God and he says to us as he said to Jeremiah, call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. But Satan has come in and drowned our prayer life. And I do believe his great concern is to keep us from prayer. He loves to see you up to your eyes in the Lord's work as long as you don't pray. Go ahead and study your Bibles. Get that concordance out. Look at those Greek words and those Hebrew words. Look at them. Study it all out as much as you want, but don't unite it with prayer. He laughs at our toiling. And He mocks our schemes. But He trembles at our praying. And I believe that. I believe He trembles at our praying. Many years ago, the Reverend John Greer told me back in 1983, He said, John, prayer is the most spiritual exercise you will ever engage in. And because it is the most spiritual, it is the most difficult. Don't you know it? Don't you find it hard to bend your knees so often? Or to bend them for very long? Like you've got a full day ahead of you. You got this planned and that planned. Anything to keep you from bending your knees and dwelling in the holy place. I do believe what William Cowper said in his poem, Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon their knees. Satan rejoices when he sees lukewarm Christians all at ease. But how much do we pray? How much time do we spend before the throne each day? Satan has come in like a flood. Satan seeks to drown the virtues of God's people. He hates holiness. Holiness is usefulness. It's not great talent that God blesses its great likeness to Christ. And when Satan comes in like a flood, he makes every effort to diminish and destroy those virtues, that holy living among God's people. You know, at one time in this country, the vast majority of Christianity looked at alcohol as something to be avoided like a plague. Now we're producing many arguments for the advancement of the use of alcohol. Strange, strange. One time in this country, the people of God used to reference the Sabbath day, and they found upon any professing Christians who broke the Sabbath day, And yet now you walk into a church and right beside, I've seen it right beside the phone, there's a list of restaurants to go out to eat after it's on there. Hey, I ain't buying and selling, this is forbidden in the Scriptures. It's the Sabbath. But Satan has come into the church to such a degree that if you do try to honor the Sabbath and decry those who break it, you're labeled as a Pharisee and a legalist. I like what Spurgeon said. He said, I would rather be smeared out as a Puritan than despised as a hypocrite. Chapter 59, verse 15, A truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. Boy, if that's not a description of present-day Christianity. You depart from evil, you become a target. Oh, you're a goody two-shoes. Holy Joe! You're not with it, you know. We have this liberty. Yeah, I've got a liberty too. It's a liberty to be holy. As holy as I can be. To be as unlike the world as I can be. I don't want to be like this world. I don't want to listen to this world's music. I don't want to dress like this world. I don't want to talk like this world. I don't want to think like this world because Jesus Christ is outside the camp. And if I'm going to fellowship with Jesus Christ, I must go to Him bearing His reproach. So get me different from the world. And I don't care what the world says. I don't care what the world thinks. I don't want to be like this world. I want to be like Christ, who is as unlike the world as you'll ever find anyone. If you seek to raise the standard today against gambling and card playing and dancing and plunging necklines and raising hemlines, rock music, contemporary Christian music and a host of other vices, you're attacked not only by the world but sadly by professing Christians. What have we come to, beloved? When we want to defend sin, Satan's coming like a flood. He seeks to drown the ventures of the church. I speak of the ventures of God's people where they go out and live out and out for Christ, where they go out and earnestly contend for the faith, where they fight for the cause of God and truth. Today, you see, you can't be negative. You've got to be positive and you've got to be loving and you don't want to offend. And it seems that Christians more and more are afraid to venture into the battle for truth. They will sing with all their hearts, sound the battle cry, but don't say a peep when God's name is blasphemed and is called dishonored when they are among the world. They shout, onward Christian soldiers in the church, but take very few steps to see God's armies go forward. And I'll tell you why. Because Satan has come in like a flood. And you know what? I don't have to end there. I now come to the second point. It won't be as long as the first. The attack of heaven upon Satan. First there was the attack of hell. Now we look at the attack of heaven. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. I want you to see that there is a certainty of heaven's attack. It matters not how dark the day might be in your life, or in your home, or in your church, or in this nation. It matters not how late the hour. Whenever Satan comes in like a flood, God's Word says that the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Yes, in the midst of the attack by Satan upon the church, we find ourselves often discouraged. Men all around us are falling, and the outlook seems very bleak. But God has made us a promise here. When you are completely overwhelmed by the flood, and you can't turn to the left, and you can't turn to the right, and you don't know exactly what to do, lift up your head for your redemption draweth nigh. Dr. Barrett was mentioning Hezekiah on Wednesday evening. As he was preaching, I was thinking about another king, Jehoshaphat. where the great armies of Ammon and Moab came against Israel. And what did Jehoshaphat say? We have no might against this great company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. As he was preaching, I was thinking about the enemy of my own sins. I don't know what you were thinking, but I was thinking about the enemies of my own sins that surround me and so easily beset me. I was thinking about my prayerlessness. And my lack of Bible study. And my lack of heart for the lost. Just think about all those things. And completely surrounded by the enemy. And Lord saying, I don't have any might. I can't beat this. I'm overwhelmed. Our eyes are upon Thee. Here is every reason, I say, to be full of courage and hope. What God says He will do, He will do. Hold the fort, for I am coming, Jesus signals still. You may not be able to count on people, but you can count on God. Here is an exceeding great and precious promise that's written for our comfort. You say, I'm not going to lock this in to Jewish history. I'm not going to do it. I take this as one of those promises that God has given to be applied to my present situation. And God tells me here that when the enemy has come in and I'm completely surrounded and I have nowhere to turn and I think I'm going to die, right at that point He says, I'm going to step in. So don't you quit. Don't you give up. The course of heaven's attack The Spirit of the Lord that will bring about a change in events, it says, the Spirit of the Lord. And that change has to be wrought in the hearts of God's people to put the enemy to flight. Three things as this takes its course. One is the reality of the destitute situation. You've got to realize it. You don't begin to cry to God with all your heart until you realize how bad things are. Well, you think things are going along pretty smoothly, things are pretty good. Well, when you find yourself desperate, that's when you begin to cry for all you have. As Hezekiah did, as Jehoshaphat did. Reality. Then there is this repentance. Maybe I've touched upon things this morning. It might be going on in your own home. Perhaps you don't have a family altar. What's to speak? Well then, what's going to turn things around? The Spirit of the Lord works, and He works. He works repentance. Okay, right. I am going to set up an altar in my home. I'm going to meet with my family. I'm going to meet with my children. And I'm going to read the Word of God. I'm going to explain the Word of God. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to make sure that Christ is the head of this home and He's the centerpiece. Dependence. How many departed out of the house of God this morning without a good season of prayer at the throne of grace? Maybe you read the Sunday news. Or maybe you just had time to crawl out of bed and take a shower and get dressed and rush on into church. Don't be surprised why you might be bored stiff this morning. Why you're having a hard time keeping your eyes open. Or unprepared for the place of prayer. Well, repentance comes into play. Turning from that way. And returning. Returning to the old paths. Returning to the old ways. That's how the Spirit of God moves. Realize it. Face it. Turn from it. And get back to God. But I have the best for last, and that's the champion of heaven's attack. The Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. What is the standard? The word there means a war flag, a banner. What is this that is raised and causes the enemy to flee and defeat? Very simply, it is Jehovah Nissi, the Lord, our banner. It is Jesus Christ. He goes back in verse 17, God found there was no intercessor, for He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head, and He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with the zeal of the cloak. That is Christ. That is the person of Jesus Christ. He is the champion in this attack. The Spirit of God comes upon Christ. I was envisioning this morning, as I was pondering this whole passage again, two angels up in heaven talking, looking down upon the church. And they'd seen that the enemy has come in like a flood. And one angel says to the next, my, things are looking bad. They're completely surrounded. And I just thought about the other angel nudging and saying, look over there. The master. He's putting his armor on. It's all right. It's all right. The champion. It's Christ and His cross. You see, when Christ and His cross is exalted in the church of Jesus Christ, our faith is emboldened. You read in the history of the Reformation during those wars, one thing that you didn't want to have happen was the enemy capture your war flag, your standard. At all costs, they kept this thing up high. Raise the standard and embolden the soldiers to fight. And I'll tell you one thing, the only place I get the wherewithal to go out and my faith is emboldened is when I look off of the situation and look off at the enemy and my eyes are upon Christ, my war flag, the cross, my banner. And then I find it's all right. I'm not going to be beat. Rejoice not against me, O my enemy, for when I fall, I shall arise." Because Christ is my standard. And Christ crucified is exalted when that standard is lifted up and displayed. Our love is inflamed. You might be sitting here this morning with a cold heart. I know because I've sat in a pew many a time with a cold heart. Sad to say, I've come to the pulpit with a cold heart. But I'll tell you, every time that heart has been melted is when I've had my eyes put upon my Savior. When the Spirit of God has opened my eyes to see Him and opened my ears to hear Him, my love has been inflamed again. And I can fight on. And I can keep on standing. And keep on serving. Despite the fact the enemy has come in like a flood. When Christ and His cross is exalted, there is zeal in the camp. Christ, church, the things of God don't become something you do perfunctory. Minor zeal now. You know, it's not dragging yourself to church and dragging yourself to the prayer meeting. There is a lift and a lilt in your step. The outlook is bright. There's a zeal about the people of God when their eyes are upon Christ and His cross. And it only makes sense, doesn't it, when the devil sees that, he flees. He has to. Here's the very one who has conquered Him. At the sign of triumph, Satan's host doth flee. Forgive me, but I've come back to the simple thing again of Christ and His cross. I can't get away from it. It's still the answer. It's still the heart of revival. This is the war flag of the Spirit of God. That's when the enemy loses heart. That's the holy war. What do you do? You realize, you depend, you return, and you look off onto Jesus.